Alarm systems monitor sensors to determine the presence of people within a protected space. If the alarm system detects a breach of the protected space it will respond based on the state of the system. Possible system states include “Disarmed”, “Armed Stay”, and “Armed Away.” If the system is disarmed it will not alarm to perimeter or interior sensors. If the system is armed stay it will alarm to a breach of the perimeter sensors but not to the interior sensors. If the system is armed away it will alarm to a breach of the perimeter or interior sensors. The state of the system is determined by the needs of the occupants of the premises. If all of the occupants are leaving the premises then the system should be armed away. If the occupants will be staying within the premises for an extended period of time then the system should be armed stay. For all other scenarios the system should be disarmed.
Problems arise when the system is not properly armed and disarmed. Typical problems include not disarming the system before the alarm sounds, arming away when occupants plan to stay within the protected space, and not arming the system when the premises are unoccupied. These are user-created problems and as such, it is desirable to develop a system that will assist the end user with the arming and disarming operations.
Others have provided partial improvement by offering security systems that will assist the end user with arming and disarming. One such system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,903, is armed and disarmed by the action of the deadbolt on the entry door. A switch is mounted in the doorjamb to detect when the bolt is extended into the jamb, i.e. locked. If the deadbolt is locked and alarm system does not detect motion within a predetermined exit time then the system will transition to the armed away state. If motion is detected then it will transition to the armed stay state. If the system is armed and the deadbolt is unlocked then the system will transition to the disarmed state. A major drawback with this arrangement occurs if the intruder picks the lock to open the deadbolt. Although this is an unauthorized entry the alarm system will disarm allowing the perpetrator full access to the premises.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,280, DOOR SECURITY DEVICE FOR USE IN SECURITY SYSTEMS, owned by the assignee of this application, is an improvement on the '903 patent, and relates to a door entry security device used in a security system including a control panel, the door security device in a housing suitable for mounting within a recess of a doorjamb or door of a premises. In the housing is a lock position detecting switch, configured to detect the position of a lock mounted on a door as being either locked or unlocked, a door position detecting switch configured to detect the position of the door as being either open or closed, and processing circuitry configured to generate a security system disarm signal when (1) the position of the lock has transitioned from a locked state to an unlocked state, (2) the door is closed at the time that a predefined time period has elapsed since the position of the lock transitions from a locked state to an unlocked state, and (3) the door has been opened after that predefined time period has elapsed. The door entry device also has a data transmitter for sending the security system disarm signal to the control panel. An alarm signal is generated and transmitted to the control panel when the door is open at the time that the predefined time period has elapsed since the lock has transitioned to an unlocked state. The control panel prevents the security system from being disarmed when an alarm signal is received unless a user code is entered into the security system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,111, METHOD OF PROGRAMMING SECURITY CONTROL PANELS FOR DOOR ENTRY DEVICE COMPATABILITY, also owned by the assignee of this application, relates to specific methodologies for programming a control panel to operate in conjunction with the device of the '280 patent.
The present invention is a different approach from the '903, '280 and '111 patents and provides an arrangement that solves the assisted security system interface problem in several ways. It provides a means to arm and disarm the security system with a minimum of intervention from the end user. It provides a means to ensure that the system is armed when needed, eliminating the unoccupied and unarmed premises problem. It provides a means to reliably disarm the system to eliminate entry delay false alarms. It also provides a means to verify that the person entering the premises is authorized to do so. In addition, there is no need to modify the door jamb or deadbolt as with the aforementioned prior art patents.